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Watchung Hills Regional High School senior Emily Bisci is joined by Warren Township Police Sgt. Joseph Cohen at a “Help Save the Next Girl” program on Saturday, March 9, at Our Lady of the Mount Church in Warren Township.

Watchung Hills student is working to 'Save the Next Girl'

Watchung Hills Regional High School senior Emily Bisci is joined by Warren Township Police Sgt. Joseph Cohen at a “Help Save the Next Girl” program on Saturday, March 9, at Our Lady of the Mount Church in Warren Township.

WARREN TWP. - Emily Bisci is doing what she can to help prevent sexual assault.

Bisci, a Warren resident and a senior at Watchung Hills Regional High School, has launched New Jersey’s first chapter of ”Help Save the Next Girl,” an organization dedicated to teaching women tips on how to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of predatory behavior.

She hosted an event on Saturday, March 9, at Our Lady of the Mount Church that focused on these skills.

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), sexual assault is the most under-reported crime in the U.S., and an estimated 63 percent of rapes going unreported. In a staggering statistic, NSVRC reports that one in five women will be raped at some point in their lives, and that women also make up 91 percent of all rape victims in the U.S.

Help Save the Next Girl was created in response to the abduction of Morgan Dana Harrington, a Virginia Tech student, in 2009.

Morgan attended a concert, and when she left for the bathroom she never returned. Her remains were discovered some 101 days later about six miles away from the concert venue.

The organization established in her memory has since turned into a national nonprofit organization with chapters at Virginia Tech, Walkersville High School in Maryland, and now Watchung Hills Regional High School in Warren Township.

The organization creates bonds between local law enforcement, the media, and communities to help stop and prevent predatory assaults. The organization helps spread information that focuses on safety as well as violence prevention, and advocates support for young men to be involved in the process too.

Bisci established the Watchung Hills chapter as part of her Gold Award project for the Girl Scouts, the idea was first floated to her by her mother, Annette.

“My brother goes to Virginia Tech and when we went down to visit him I saw tables for Save the next girl and I asked questions about it,” Bisci said. “When I was trying to come up with ideas for my Gold Award project, my mom floated the idea of helping them out.”

In order to establish the chapter at Watchung High School Bisci spent a long time filling out paperwork and going through the process. Eventually, the club was established as a section of the Glow Club at Watchung Hills.

“We had the idea of having it under the Glow Club at the school, which focuses on leadership, outreach and work, so it’s like another subcategory of that club,” she explained. “Also, for the Gold Award, it has to be sustainable, which is why we put it under the Glow Club, so that way we can guarantee that they will keep it going.”

Her event Saturday focused on safety while traveling alone and on campuses, social media safety, and included practical demonstrations of self-defense techniques.

The first speaker at the event was Sgt. Joseph Cohen of the Warren Township Police Department. He focused his presentation on proper safety habits that can help reduce the risk of one becoming a victim of either a tragic accident or of online harassment.

He emphasized that young people should always notify family or friends of their plans.

“Let your family know what you’re up to,” Cohen said. “Fill them in on where you are going, who you are going with, and what time you plan on being home if you’re going to be late to let them know, because if something does happen to you, it will make their response in calling us faster and it will help us with our investigation.

“It’s also just part of being a good daughter or a good son or a good family member.”

He said teenagers today face pressures that previous members of previous generations would struggle to understand, particularly because of social media. He said teens should put more thought into their actions, and consider the consequences before they post a video of someone else’s vulnerable moment on social media for the world to see.

“Don’t be that guy or girl that posts stuff when you know they are vulnerable, also don’t be the commenter that comments on someone being assaulted, or is the bully to pass along texts and emails. It’s a snowball going downhill – think before you text,” Cohen said.

The final speaker was Master Gerard Bu, a third-dan black belt in Hapkido, who decided that the best way for him to talk about self-defense techniques was to have everyone practice them for themselves. Bu had audience members pair up with each other to practice simple techniques to respond to an assailant grabbing one’s wrist.

Bu also talked about techniques designed to getting out of risky situations, like stomping on an assailant’s foot, or kneeing an assailant in the groin.

“Something that you should remember is that you should always provide yourself an opportunity to get away,” Bu said. “Hopefully. you never get into this situation. but in case you find yourself in it, there are a few things that work very well.”

The event closed with Bisci asking each attendee to write a note of what he or she took away from the seminar, and to post it on the wall.

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